From the Outside
by rosemusic20
Summary: Let's start at the very beginning, but add two new characters.
1. Dana

_**You will have to be patient with me for this one. It is the epitome of an experiment.**_

_**It is a prompt that was given to me by a reviewer on another one of my stories, so I thought I'd give it a go. **_

_**It will follow the story of The Sound of Music from the beginning to end from the point of view of two young girls who move in across the lake from our favorite family. Somethings will stay the same, others may change drastically.**_

_**The first chapter is more of an introduction, and we do not meet the von Trapp children until the very end.**_

I stare at the frighteningly large mansion, clutching my suitcase. Movers carrying large boxes brush passed me as I gaze upwards, my eyes bulging. This is by far the biggest house I have ever seen. Inside I know there is a maid, and a cook, and a butler. It is weird. Ever since my father became a decorated war hero, people have been treating us differently. I don't like it. I want to be back in the one-room apartment; Where my sister and I shared a bed, where I could always hear the sounds of the city outside even in the darkest hours of night, where I could write music by the blazing fire and no one would try to serve me tea. I miss my old home. This is the third time we had moved in the last year.

I feel a gentle hand rest on my shoulder. "It's going to be okay Dana." My sister whispers to me. I turn to look up at her, watching as she plays with the long brown curls that fall around her shoulders. She's curled her hair every night since she turned thirteen and our grandmother gave her a set of hot curlers. I never understand why. "Father says that we'll get to stay here." She assures me. She takes a deep breath and starts to walk towards the house.

"Angelina, wait!" I cry, running towards her. I grab her hand and the two of us walk towards our next adventure hand in hand.

After we finish unpacking, I beg Angelina to go exploring outside with me. It's a gorgeous day, with that crisp air that comes right between summer and spring, and I need to get out of the house. I never could have imagined that something so big could be so suffocating.

I pull her out the back door by the wrist.

I am immediately floored by the gorgeous view. I didn't realize we were living lakeside. The water stretches as far as I can see, and it shimmers as the sun bounces off of it.

"It's beautiful." I hear Angelina say, her voice full of wonder.

I smile to myself. "Yeah." I agree quietly.

We stand there for a moment, staring at the purples, reds, and yellows as they light up the sky and the lake.

"I wonder if it's cold." I whisper.

Angelina smiles mischievously at me. "Well," She pauses, eyeing me. Suddenly, she grabs my hand and bolts straight towards the water. "Let's find out!" She shouts.

I struggle to kick my shoes off before my sister pulls me in and we are surrounded in the clear blue. The coolness rushes over me as a let my hair and clothes sop up water.

We are swimmers, my sister and I. When we were little, we used to stay with our grandparents, who lived by a fantastically magical river. I adored getting swept away by the currents, or relaxing in the still water pools.

Now fully submerged, I start to think that this new home might grow on me.

I pop my head up, taking a gulp of air and looking around to find my sister. Two hands grab me by the feet and yank me under. I open my eyes, and see my sister, her hair swirling around. She grins and sticks her tongue out at me and then we both start laughing.

We are treading water now, as we've ventured further into deeper water.

As I gaze across the water, something catches my eye.

"Look." I cry, pointing.

My sister's eyes follow my finger and light up. "A house." She yelps.

"Let's swim to it." I suggest. Before I start paddling away, she grabs my shoulders.  
>"We can't swim to it silly." She informs me curtly, rolling her eyes.<p>

Just when I had thought we might be able to make some friends, she goes and stomps out my excitement. I duck under the water not wanting her to see the expression on my face.

When I come back up, Angelina notices my disappointment and nudges me with her elbow. "It's okay. I saw a boat lying in some bushes over back at the house. We can row over."

Anticipation fills me as we swim back and walk up onto the grass, wringing out our clothes. I follow Angelina over to where, as she predicted, there is a small row boat just large enough for two people, and two paddles.

"Dana, before we go, let me fit your pigtails." She says, coming around behind me and trying to remedy my soaking hair. After a few minutes she steps back and sighs. "Alright, I think that is as good as it's going to get. Gosh, your hair is so long and unruly."

"Well, maybe I should waste hours trying to curl it every night." I retort, trying to insult her.

"Maybe you should." She gazes at her reflection in the water and combs her fingers as she talks. I'm not in the mood to argue with her, so I just let it go.

"Come on." I say. "Stop primping and let's go." I grab her and tear her away from herself.

With some effort, we manage to push the boat into the water and hop inside. We begin paddling determinedly towards the distant house. It's so and inviting, shaded by trees, with bright grass that somehow looks greener than the grass our house. As we get closer, Angelina and I start to guess what wonders could be awaiting behind that pristine, elegant gate guarding the boat ramp.

"A handsome prince."

"A giant library."

"A knight in shining armor."

"Other children."

"Boys."

I twist my body in my seat and look at her with disgust at that suggestion.

"What?" She asks, giggling a little.

I shrug and turn back to paddling. "You're weird." I mutter under my breath.

"No, I'm not. Everyone likes boys." She looks proud. "You're the one that's weird." I don't understand what she has to be proud of herself. Just because she got a valentine from some random kid at school doesn't mean she is somehow better than I am.

She's making me mad, so I use my paddle to splash water on her.

I figured she would get me back, but what I didn't suspect was for her to kick me hard straight in the back. I lurched forward and almost toppled off the front of the boat. Glaring I turn all the way around and lunge at her.

It was stupid idea and I didn't think it through.

"Don't stand up!" Angelina shrieked, but it was too late. The boat rocked for a second and then capsized, throwing us into the water.

I feel guilty, treading water as the two of us pull the boat towards the shore. We have traveled to far away from our own house to swim back, and all we can do is push to guide the boat to the nearest grass.

As we trample onto the shore and tie the boat to a tree, I wipe my bare feet on the grass to remove the mud. Looking up, I see the decadent house casting a shadow over us.

"It's even bigger than ours." I note.

Angelina just nods dreamily.

We start to walk through the yard along a stone pathway, and my eyes trace the brightly colored flowers that line the water.

Suddenly, Angelina sees something and breaks into a run. I chase after her and we arrive at a tall, intricately designed white gazebo.

Angelina sighs. "This is so romantic." She says, grinning.

"Don't get any ideas." I poke her.

"I'm not." But she is still grinning so I know that she is getting tons of ideas.

We stand there, looking at the gazebo, afraid to step into it, for a few more minutes.

I hear a door swing open, and whip my body around. My mouth falls open as I watch a line of children walk out of the house.

Angelina notices me staring and when she discovers what I am looking at, she grabs me and pulls me behind a bush. "Duck." She commands.

A woman pokes her head out of the door and issues a command to them and the children start to march in a circle.

We are crouched behind a dark green leafy bush. I am still shock. "Other kids." I count them. "Seven." I add, my voice a little too loud.

She hushes me.

"How strange." I observe quietly. "They are marching."

In the front of the line is a girl who is clearly the eldest, with short, soft brown hair and piercing blue eyes. She walks with her head held high, clearly aware of her superiority over her siblings, assuming they are all related.

Behind her is a boy who is clearly still growing into his body. He is almost as tall as his sister, with blonde hair and a bit of a baby face. He is somewhat clumsy, tripping over his long legs and nearly colliding with the girl in front of him.

The blonde girl behind him is smiling and biting back laughter. She is excited about something, and her march is more like a skip then a march. Her hair is very cliché, long and golden, catching the sunlight when she turns on a certain angle.

Next is a boy. There are only two boys in this crew.

I smirk at how wrong my sister was at the prospects of meeting a boy.

Anyway, this boy, he seems like he's my age, maybe a little older. He has a big, toothy grin and sparkly eyes. His hair is gold like his sisters, but in a more manly way. He walks with his hand in his pockets. His smile is so big that I think it would be fitting for him to be whistling or singing a song.

He turns and squints for a second in our direction. My heart beat quickens for a second. I wonder if her can see me here, hiding behind this not-so-discrete bush.

He whispers something in the ear of his sister. She smiles and whispers back, her dark eyes lighting up. Her hair matches mine in length, but only half pulled back in a braid. The rest falls in waves down her back. She holds under her arm, a book with a title that I can't quite make out.

The two behind her have identical hair styles in different colors. One is slightly taller than the other with darker hair and eyes. Her braids are adorned with a pretty pink ribbon. She walks on her toes, trying to hear what her brother and sister are saying.

The youngest is completely in her own world. His little hands play with the fringe on her dress as she straggles behind the rest of the group. She stares off across the lake, as if expecting to see a mermaid pop up out of the water.

"Now that I think about it, maybe casually walking onto someone else's property wasn't such a good idea." Angelina says beside me. "Let's get out of here."

I am frozen, mesmerized by this new discovery.

Kids. There are other kids here.

Maybe this new home won't be so bad after all.

_**I hope that you did not feel tortured by this tale so far. I am honestly in search of opinions and ideas for this, especially for the development of the two new characters.**_

_**This story will be mostly about family and friendship, though there will be inevitable sprinkles of Maria/Georg romance once the famous governess enters the pictures.**_

_**The next chapter will be from Angelina's point of view. What do you think should be going on in her head?**_


	2. Angelina

_**So, I know this took me like a million years. Please don't be mad. I've been super busy with school and incredibly obsessed with Frozen. I am back though, and for those of you who are reading 'Backwards Glances', there should be a new chapter of that soon... I hope.**_

My heart is pounding. We shouldn't be here. This is someone's house, their private house. I've read about people shooting trespassers on their land. Or maybe that was farmers shooting wolves. I don't know.

I tug on Dana's wrist. "Come on."

She is unresponsive, her eyes like little saucers watching these strangers.

I decide to take a different approach. "Fine." I mutter, making sure she can hear me. "I'm going. If you don't catch up by the time I've untied the boat then I am leaving without you." When she neglects to react, I just shrug and start to slowly maneuver through the trees, trying to keep from attracting any attention.

To be honest, I wouldn't mind attracting the attention of the tall one with the baby blue eyes and blonde hair. However, in this moment, my hair is in straggles, my dress is soaked through and I am a bit of a sorry sight.

I tiptoe down the path by the water, careful not to make a sound for fear of being heard. I finally reach the boat and start to untie it. It won't budge. Dana has used some sort of Navy knot that she learned from our father to tie it. I am not well acquainted with these knots, and I try as I might I cannot get the rope to release itself from the tree.

"Stupid rope." I grumble, kicking the tree and thrusting the rope onto the ground.

"Need a hand." I freeze at the sound of an unfamiliar voice behind me.

My eyes wide, I turn around to greet the smiling face of the tall blonde boy who had been in the line of children. "Um, I suppose." I say quietly.

He immediately goes to work on the knot, talking quickly as he works. "My father used to be the Captain of a ship in the Navy. When I was younger he used to teach me the different maritime techniques. You know, navigating waves, using a sail, not using a sail, knot tying, and untying." He looks up at me, beaming. He's somehow managed to make that awful rope surrender.

"Thanks." I say, snatching the rope from his hands. "You can go back to your marching now."

He glances at the ground. "Oh." Then he eyes me again, grinning. "Do you want to help me find a frog?"

I can feel my face crinkle in disgust. "A what?" I ask.

"A frog." He repeats simply. "We are about to have a new governess and we are trying to find something to put in her pocket when she gets here."

"Why would you do that?"

"It's fun." He says as if it's obvious. "Plus, we are sort of trying to get our father's attention. See, he's really busy and he travels a lot and the only time he comes home is when he needs to find a new governess."

"Oh."

He gives me a goofy smile. "So, want to help?"

I shake my head, but I hear my voice say "Sure."

"I'm Friedrich by the way." He informs me, extending a hand.

"Angelina. Angelina Meeker." I tentatively return the handshake.

Moments later I am crawling around on the ground. The dirt is sticking to my dress because it's wet. It's gross, but I start to kind of enjoy lifting up rocks and logs.

"Any luck, Angie?" He calls from the other side of a bush.

I am about to tell him not to call me Angie when I lift up a rock and there I see it. Sitting in the dirt is a small, greenish-brown frog. It's really more of a toad then a frog actually. My mouth falls open. "Oh my gosh." I stutter. "I found one. What do I do?"

"Grab it." I hear him shout.

I slowly reach town and cup the tiny toad in my hands. "Ew, ew, ew, ew!" I shriek as I lift it into the air. "Now what?"

"Now give it to me."

I whip around to see him peering over my shoulder. "Here." I yelp, dropping it into his hands. "Gross, I think he peed on me." I run over to the water and rinse my hands. It is while I am doing this that I realize our boat has floated away. I can see it, bobbing up and down, a bit too far away to swim to. I fight the urge to curse.

"You okay…" Friedrich follows my eyes and see's the runaway row boat. "Oh. Uh oh." He bites back a laugh.

"Now what?"

"I guess you're stuck here." I look at him and see that his face is all lit up from excitement.

I feel the spark in his eyes jolt through my whole body. Not really knowing what I'm doing, I start to lean towards him a little. I'm not sure what possessed me to do it but I close my eyes and-

"Angelina, wait!" Comes a familiar cry. "Don't leave without me."

I step away from him moments before Dana immerges from the trees. Her eyes widen at the sight of the stranger.

"You brought a friend?" Friedrich asks me.

I nod. "Yes, this is my sister Dana."

"Nice to meet you." Friedrich stretches out his hand.

Dana just stares suspiciously at it, her bug eyes blinking hurriedly.

"I'm Friedrich." He smiles warmly.

Dana reluctantly shakes his hand.

She can be really shy sometimes. At the last place we lived she stayed locked up in her room the whole two weeks we were there. She talks this big talk about wanting to meet new people and have friends, but when she actually finds herself face to face with someone she doesn't know she clams up completely.

I can't help but laugh at her shyness. "She'll warm up to you." I say to Friedrich. "But right now, we have problem on her hands." I gesture to the boat.

"Angelina, what did you do?" Dana says angrily. She punches me in the shoulder.

That's going to leave a bruise; she is stronger than she looks. I rub the spot where she hit me and glare at her. "If you had just come with me when I told you to, instead of stalking our neighbors creepily behind a bush, this never would have happened."

Dana crosses her arms and sticks her tongue out at me. What does she hope to accomplish by doing that? It's just immature and stupid. I scowl at her, fighting the urge to stick my tongue out right back.

"What's going on?" A voice says behind me. I whirl around to see another one of the children, this one a girl, with dark brown hair as long as my sister. She's talking to Friedrich.

"Brigitta," Friedrich says, smiling brightly at her. "This is Angelina and Dana." He gestures at us.

"Hello." Brigitta gazes curiously at us. "Where did you two come from?"

"We came from across the lake." I reply.

"How?" The young girl seems unsure of whether we are trustworthy or not.

"Well," Dana pipes up. "We had a boat. But _someone_ let it float away into the middle of the lake." She points out over the water to where our boat is being pulled away by the current and gives me a dirty look.

"Oh." Brigitta says quietly, following Dana's finger. "I see. That was rather stupid of you, letting your boat float away like that."

"Brigitta!" Friedrich scorns her. "Don't be rude."

"I'm just being honest." She responds, turning her nose up. "Anyone with a brain worth a dime should be able to keep a boat from floating away. Didn't you have a rope?" Friedrich elbows her in the side.

"Yes, we did." Dana tells her. "And I had it tied up nice and secure but then my sister untied it."

"Oh, sorry about that." Brigitta turns on her heels and starts to leave.

"Wait," Friedrich calls after her. "You aren't going to tell are you?"  
>"Of course not Friedrich I'm not a masochist."<p>

On a side note, I mentally pat myself on the back for knowing that a masochist is a person who gets pleasure out of torturing others. I know this because I pay attention in school.

"I'm going to get Liesl." Brigitta finishes. "I want to see what she thinks we should do about these strangers."

Friedrich shakes his head. "Oh, come on. Leave her out of this."

"Well, do you have any ideas about what we ought to do with them?" Brigitta asks pointedly.

Friedrich hesitates then shakes his head.

"Exactly. Liesl will know what to do. She's been sneaking people in and out of here since she was fifteen."

Friedrich shrugs and follows her, gesturing for us to come as well. We emerge from the trees to see all of the children, minus Friedrich and Brigitta, still marching around the court yard.

The first to see us is a girl who looks to be about my age with long blonde hair. She stops dead in her tracks and the rest of them barrel ungracefully into her back. The slightly taller girl at the front of the line whips around to see what all the commotion is about. Her eyes fall on the four of us, standing awkwardly together.

"What's going on?" The blonde girl asks inquisitively. "Who are these people?" Her blue eyes narrow at us.

I remember that our clothes are soaked through and we aren't wearing any shoes. I feel my cheeks burn red.

"This is Angelina and Dana." Friedrich informs the rest of his siblings.

"They live across the lake." Brigitta adds. "Their boat floated away."

An uncomfortable silence passes as the five remaining children peer nervously at us. I am becoming increasingly self-conscious.

"We don't know the area very well because we just moved here." I finally say, straightening my spine.

The eldest girl spoke up, tilting her head to one side. "Why did you come here in the first place?"

I bite my lip and glance hopefully at Dana, who is giving me the same look. Then I turn back to the group and gather my courage. "We just moved here and were doing some exploring and-."

I am cut off as my sister has a sudden burst of bravery. "And your house is just _so_ beautiful we couldn't help but wonder what it looked like up close."  
>Does she know how creepy she sounds? "We didn't intend on spying on you all." I assure the eldest sister. "Our boat capsized and this was the closest land."<p>

Her eyes are still squinted, judging us quietly, but she shrugs and says, "So you need a way to get back?"

Dana and I nod.

"Really the only way for you to get around the lake is to walk." The other boy, who is about Dana's age, maybe a little older, pipes up. "Or swim, if you're up for it."

I giggle. "No thank you." I say pointedly, glancing down at my soaked clothes. "We have had enough swimming for one day."

"I'm Liesl." The eldest sister extends her hand cautiously.

"Dana."

"Angelina."

"I take it you already know my brother Friedrich and my sister Brigitta." Liesl speaks curtly, confidently. She is polite, but in an assertive way.

I nod.

"Well, this is Louisa." She gestures to the girl with long, blonde, enviable hair, who is standing next to the empty space in the line where I assume Friedrich belongs.

"Hi Louisa." I hear Dana's voice quietly greet the stranger.

"Kurt." The younger of the two boys speaks up. He is standing as tall as he possibly can, which isn't very tall. His chest is all puffed out like a proud bird. He is an adorably awkward sight.

Next to Kurt is another gap, likely belonging to Brigitta, and then a shorter girl with brown hair. Her brown eyes blink curiously, but she doesn't say her name. She seems nervous, her fingers are a twisting the ends of her braids which are enlaced with pink ribbon.

Finally she smiles softly and opens her mouth just barely. "I'm Marta." Her voice is light and dainty, like a cloud almost.

If Marta is sweet, her younger sister could cause an aneurism with her cuteness. She has her arms folded over her chest, and her expression reads of skepticism. She's shy, precious. I just want to eat her. Not literally eat her, but figuratively eat her because she is _so_ cute.

"That's Gretl." Louisa tells me, laughing a little at her sister's shyness.

They are all dressed in identical grey clothes with forest green and white stripes in certain places. These children seem to be, by definition, the perfect family. I am kind of embarrassed to be standing in front of them in my dripping clothes which are covered in mud.

"Nice to meet you all." I say, offering them a smile.

"Angie found this frog." Friedrich pipes up. "Look, isn't it discussing."

"Let me see." Louisa steps forward and I gasp as she voluntarily takes the frog from Friedrich's hands. She scrutinizes the frog as if she is judging a beauty competition, then her eyes light up mischievously. "It's perfect."

"Children, you'd better come inside." A woman immerges from the door way. "Your new governess will be here shortly."

Louisa quickly clasps her hands behind her back to hide the frog

"That's Frau Schmitt." Friedrich whispers to me. His breath tickles my ear and sends shivers down my spine.

It takes Frau Schmitt a few moments to register my and my sister's presence. "Who are these two?" She asks, furrowing her brow.

"This is Dana and Angelina Meeker." Friedrich tells Frau Schmitt.

She narrows her eyes. "And what exactly are they doing here?"

"Leaving." Liesl says quickly. "Their boat capsized and floated away. We were just giving them directions on how to get back to their home."

"Please don't tell father." Kurt makes what is just about the most convincing puppy dog face I have ever seen.

Frau Schmitt reluctantly scratches her head and nods. "Very well. Brigitta, you show them as far as the gate. Everyone else, to your rooms."

The crowd disperses. Dana and I follow Angelina away from the patio, out in front of the house and over to a large gate.

"It was nice meeting you." Dana smiles brightly. She seems to be warming up to these people, which is strange because we just met them.

"You too." Brigitta replies. "Just turn right outside the gate and walk along that road and eventually you should get to the other side of the lake."

"Thank you."

As Dana and Brigitta share goodbyes, I glance down the road, which looks somewhat never ending. I squint into the distance, knowing that it will be a long walk before we find out way home.

"Good bye." I say slightly absentmindedly as Brigitta retreats to the house.

Once Dana and I are on the other side of the gate, the twisting road looks even more daunting.

"Uh oh." Dana mutters. "This is going to be a never ending, journey isn't it?"

Dana has a habit of over exaggerating, but in this case, her words seem mostly justified. I nod slowly. "It looks like it."

As we start to walk on the side of the road, I hear something strange and unfamiliar in the distance.

"Do you hear something?" Dana asks, grabbing my arm.

I turn around. In the distance I can see a figure moving towards us. I strain my ears to hear and squint to try and get a glimpse of the stranger. "It's singing. That person is singing." I observe, my eyes widening.

"Singing?" Dana looks completely amazed.

The voice gets louder and I recognize it as a woman's.

"That's beautiful." Dana's jaw drops as the words float through the air towards us. "She sounds so wonderful." She suddenly takes off into a run towards the woman.

This is a bad idea. We have met and disturbed the lives of enough strangers today. I can't let her disgrace herself though, so, glancing down at my bear feet, I reluctantly chase after her down the street.

_**I hope I did the Von Trapp family justice.**_

_**This piece is most definitely a work in progress. It is not with out flaws. I encourage you to point them out and offer character development suggestions. We are coming to a good part next chapter: the introduction of the one the only, MARIA!**_


	3. Dana 2

**_I bet y'all didn't see this update coming! I finally got around to adding a chapter to this story. I actually had a lot of fun with this chapter. Bringing in Maria and embellishing the girls's backstories. Hope you enjoy it._**

Her voice is so pretty that I can't keep from rushing towards it. I absolutely adore music. Singing is my very favorite pass time. Back at my old school I sang in the choir and everything. I run as fast as I can, trying not to trip over my own feet, until I collide head on with the tall woman who is gazing at the mansion through the large gate.

She grunts and almost topples over, muttering something under her breath then straightening her body and attempting to flatten out her dress.

"Oh, uh, hello there." She says, and I can tell she is feeling uncomfortable.

"Hi." I smile. "You have a very nice voice."

The woman blushes. "Well, thank you, that's very kind."

"I'm awfully sorry about this ma'am." I hear Angelina's footsteps as she comes up behind me. She puts her hand on my shoulder as if she is my mother, which she's not. "My sister is a bit, um, outgoing at times."

The woman laughed, pushing a tuft of short blonde hair out of her eyes. "It's no bother really." She assured Angelina. "I like outgoing people."

I grin at my sister as if to say _"Told you."_ Then turned back to the stranger, unable to wipe the smile off of my face. "What's your name?" I ask.

Angelina groans and puts the palm of her face to her hand.

"Maria." The woman smiles.

"Maria." I let the word slide off my tongue. "That's a pretty name. When I say it, it flows out of my mouth like soup."

Maria chuckles. "Now that's one that I've never gotten before."

Then I put two and two together. This must be our new friend's mother. "You're very pretty." I tell her.

"Dana." Angie reprimands me.

I glare at her. "What?" I'll never understand why she feels so entitled to treat me like I'm a baby. I'm not that much younger than her. "Don't you think she's pretty?" I am about to add something about how impressive it is that she can look good in such a hideous dress, but I fight that urge.

Angelina turns and curtsies politely towards Maria. "It's lovely to meet you ma'am."  
>"Oh, there's no need to call me ma'am." Maria replies. "Call me Maria or Fraulein if you would rather."<p>

My mouth parts into an 'o'. I am starting to feel nervous about this woman. She is so kind, maybe a little too kind. I squint suspiciously at her.

"And what are your names?"

"Angelina." Angelina says before of I can signal for her not to reveal our identities. "Angelina and Dana Meeker."

"Oh." Maria suddenly looks puzzled. "So you aren't…" She trails off. "Are you two lost?"

"No." I pipe up. "We were given directions by Brigitta."

"Hmmm." Maria twists her face slightly, and glances down the road. "Would you like me to walk with you some of the way?"  
>"No thank you!" I say quickly. "We are very skilled navigators."<p>

"In that case, you are probably better off without me." Maria admits. "I'm an absolute oaf when it comes to directions."

Behind me, Angelina laughs. "We really ought to get going, Dana." She says, squeezing my shoulder. "It's getting dark and we need to be home by sundown."

I frown. "Oh yeah." My shoulders slump slightly, as I remember that tonight is the start of some holiday that I can never remember the name of. "I forgot about that."

"It was wonderful to meet you Fraulein Maria." Angelina curtsies politely. She curtsies too much.

Despite judging her, I follow my sister's lead, lifting up the sides of my wet dress as I bow my head and bend my knees in a very lady like fashion.

"It was a pleasure to meet you two as well." Maria extends a hand to me, which I stare at in confusion for a moment before taking. "You two will have to come and visit sometime." She shakes Angelina's hand as well.

We both slowly begin backing away as she waves cordially then turns back and cautiously opens the large metal gate.

When we are almost out of earshot we turn around and I hear her start to sing again.

"She was nice." Angelina comments.

I nod slowly. "A bit strange." I add.

"We should definitely go back there some time."

-o-

I am feeling strikingly not hungry that night at dinner. It is very out of character for me not to be absolutely starving so, when I push my plate away, I am not surprised by the look of concern that flashes over my mother's features.

"Dana, are you alright?" She asks, her voice soft as usual. "You look a bit wan."

"What does _wan_ mean?" I scrunch my face up in confusion.

Angelina coughs out a laugh and puts her fork down. "It means pale, or ashy."

"I don't feel ashy." I state, raising an eyebrow. "I'm just not hungry for unleavened bread is all."

"Dana, please speak with proper grammar." My father shakes his head, slightly bemused.

"It tastes like-." I catch myself about to insult my mother's cooking and quickly change my tone of voice. "Heaven…?" I give her a weak smile.

She chuckles. "Why don't you try dipping it in your soup? That might make it taste a bit better."

"Esther, she really shouldn't mix-." My father starts to say from his end of the table.

Mother gives him a stern look and his lips close and form a smile. She places a hand on my arm and rubs it gently. "You eat it however you want to, sweet heart."

I break my bread into smaller pieces and dip a bit of it in my soup. I try to enjoy it this time but it is really quite difficult. "I'm sorry, Mother." I look at her with pleading eyes. "Bread is just not yummy at all without yeast."

"You never used to complain about it when you were younger." Father pipes up.

"Well, my taste buds are much more refined now." I inform him. "Age has made me more sensitive to the quality of my food."

"Did you just insult your mothers cooking?" Father asks, and I can see the heat already rising to his forehead.

"Daniel, it's fine." Mother attempts to interject.

"You should be grateful to have any bread at all." Father states, slamming his fists down on the table. "When my ship was caught in a storm last year, we went an entire week without food after our supplies ran out. Seven days. That's how long the children of Israel went without yeast for their bread, that's how long my crew went without food while we waited to be rescued. If you're so keen to not eat your dinner you might want to see what it feels like to go a week without food." He stands up and gestures for me to leave.

"Father, please I'm-." I start to apologize but there are no words. I am suddenly hungry for the first time all day. "I'll eat the bread and I won't make another peep."

"Go upstairs and take your food with you." Father orders sternly, not budging from his spot at the head of the table.

I start to feel tears collect under my eyelids. I swallow hard in an attempt to keep them from overflowing.

"Daniel she's only little." Mother whispers softly, but she has no power over him.

"I don't care how old she is she needs to be grateful for what she has and respect tradition." Father narrows his eyes at me.

I can't keep the salty water from spilling over my eyelashes as I fumble with my porcelain plate and silver ware. I try to fit my bowl of soup and glass of water onto my plate, but that darned bread is taking up all the space and my hands aren't big enough to hold the cup in one hand.

I look up at father who is waiting pointedly for me to leave the room and a sob escapes my lips.

Mother starts to get up but he grabs her arm and says, barely loud enough for me to hear, "She needs to learn this lesson sooner or later, Esther."

"Father, don't talk about her as though she isn't here." Angelina speaks. She stands up and comes over to me.

I am standing frozen at my side of the table, plate in my shaking hand. Angelina picks up my glass and bowl.

"I'll help you, Dana." She says quietly, turning to the stairs. She leaves the room and I follow her.

Once we are upstairs, Angelina sets my food on my dresser and whirls around to stare at me. "Why'd you have to go and make him angry?" She steamed. "Now he isn't going to let us watch cartoons in the morning."

"I know, I'm sorry." I set down my plate and then drag my feet all the way over to the bed and tumble into it. "Maybe if we are really good about our morning chores."

"Dana we don't have morning chores any more, we have a house maid for that." Angelina reminds me.

I sigh, my shoulders slumping. "Darn it." I roll over in the unfamiliar bed and my face smashes against the quilt. "I never thought I would wish for chores. I'm sorry Angie."

"It's okay, father is being a stick in the mud." Angelina smirks and shrugs. "It was about time someone stood up to him."

I furrow my eyebrows. "That was a rebellious thing to say." I comment, knowing that Angie is about as obedient as they come.

We laugh for a moment and Angelina takes a seat on the bed next to me.

"I'm sorry father was mean to you!" She says quietly. "He shouldn't treat you like that, even if you did disrespect an important holiday."

"Holidays are fun." I pout. "Today is _not_ a holiday. It's a Soliday."

"A soliday?" Angelina giggles. "What's that?"

"A day of solitude and boredom." I explain.

"One day you'll understand the importance of the holiday and then you won't complain anymore."

"I doubt it."

Angie rubs my back soothingly and I start to get sleepy.

"Do you think we'll see our new friends again?" I ask groggily.

"I'd say so." She replies gently.  
>I smile to myself, my eyes drooping. "I hope so. I liked them."<p>

-o-

The next morning I wake up bright and early for a very important reason. In the mornings Angie and I have our lessons. Our tutor, Tom, is amazing. Even though it's summer, I don't even mind having to learn things because he's just so wonderful. He just graduated from the college with a degree in something called anthropology. I asked him what that was and he explained that it's basically the study of really old bones and dead people. I think.

I glance at the clock on the wall.

_8:30._

Tom will be arriving in about a half hour.

I get downstairs and find Angelina sitting at the kitchen table eating some fruit and reading, her hair in curlers. She wears them every night so that her hair will be 'luscious and wavy' – her words, not mine – in the morning.

Mother is cutting slices of bread for the week. I grab one of them and then walk over to the refrigerator and pull out some strawberry jam, stopping on the way to pull a spoon out of the silverware drawer.

I sit down at the table and scoop some jam onto my bread, trying and failing at keeping it from spilling onto the table.

"Jam isn't good for you or the table."

I look up to see Angelina smirking at me. She takes a bite of her neatly cut up watermelon.

"It is too. Strawberry's a fruit."

She rolls her eyes and looks back at her book. I lean over the table to see what she is reading but I can't quite read the words because they are in Hebrew. I understand a few of them but not enough to know what any of it means. I slump back in my chair and fold my arms.

"You can't really read that." I state.

"Can too." She replies, not looking up. "Unlike some people I actually do Thomas's homework assignments."

She's acting ridiculous. Tom doesn't even give us actual homework, only suggestions for extra practice if we want. I groan. She always calls him Thomas as if that somehow makes her sound more adult. "Fine, translate it for me." I grin as she squints at the page, trying to make out the exact wording of the sentences.

"Well, I don't understand it that well but this sentence starts with 'in the wilderness.'" She sets the book down and takes another bite of her breakfast. "I'll have to ask him to translate it when he gets here."

"You just want an excuse to talk to him about something that I won't understand."

"Now why would I want that?"

"Because you _love _him." I tease.

"I do not, Dana." She huffs angrily. "I don't fall in love with every man I meet." She slams her fork on the table and stands up, pushing her chair away. "I have to go finish my hair."

"You're fixing yourself up for _Thomas_ so he'll think you're pretty." I call after her before turning back to my toast, which is now fully jellied.

"Mother, tell her to stop pestering me it's annoying." She shouts down the stairs.

My mother, who has been standing at the counter with a bemused look on her face this entire time, smooths out her skirt and chuckles. "You two…" She mutters – I think she meant for me not to hear her but I have very perceptive ears so I hear her anyway.

"What?" I say with a mouth full of bread.

"You ought not to be so hard on Angelina." She suggests, placing the bread into a container.

"Why? She makes fun of me all the time." I counter.

"Yes but, your sister is going through some changes as she grows older. She's very vulnerable right now."

"Why? Because she likes boys a bunch?"

She laughs for some reason. "Well, in a way yes. You'll understand when you're older."

"I want to understand now." I frown and swallow the last bite of my food. "I liked Angie better when she didn't care so much about looking nice and acting proper. She was way more fun." I stare blankly at the empty table in front of me, feeling sadness sink in, my excitement from waking up beginning to wear off.

"Oh, sweetie." Mother comes and kneels beside my chair on the floor, pulling me into a hug. "I'm sorry if it feels like your losing sister. Just know that no matter what happens, she loves you very much."

"She did go on an adventure with me yesterday." I remind myself out loud.

"See, she can still have fun." Mother releases me and stands up to put the sliced bread away.

I giggle at the memory. "Yeah we fell out of a boat."

She turns around. "Where did you go?" She asks cautiously.

"We were in the lake and we took the boat out for a spin and then it tipped over so we swam to shore." I explain. "We ended up meeting the people across the water from us."

Mother's eyes widen for a millisecond, and the color drains a bit from her face. "Who did you meet?" She starts to try and put the box in the cabinet, but for some reason she is having a hard time because her hands are shaking.

"Why are your hands shaking?" I question.

"I asked you a question first. Please answer it." She says very seriously – unusually seriously for her.

"Um, well we met Kurt and Liesel and Brigitta and Marta and Gretl and Friedrich and um-," I blank for a moment on the names of my new friends.

"Were they-?" My mother seems frozen with her back to me.

"And Louisa!" I remember. "The VonTrapp children."

Her shoulders relax significantly. "Children." She sighs and turns around, the pink returning to her cheeks.

I nod. "Anyway, I should go upstairs and dress for lessons." I jump out of my chair and give her a hug before racing upstairs.

_**Two things.**_

_**1. I know very little about Jewish culture and I want to do it justice SO if anyone is an expert or has more understanding than me, please enlighten me and I will edit this chapter to be more accurate. Same goes with the history: If i made an error with the technology of the time or something like that please let me know.**_

_**2. Did you like it? What do you think of the Meeker's parents? Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions?**_


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